Tre White Scores 30 as No. 15 Kansas Beats No. 24 Kentucky 89-69

CHICAGO. Tre White scored 30 points, and No. 15 Kansas beat No. 24 Kentucky 89-69 on Tuesday night in the State Farm Champions Classic at the United Center. The Jayhawks improved to 3-0. The Wildcats fell to 2-1. The game was televised on ESPN.

White went 11 of 16 from the field and 4 of 8 from 3-point range in 34 minutes, with six rebounds, going 4 of 4 at the line. Tyran Stokes added 23 points and 10 rebounds, going 8 of 19 from the field and 4 of 8 from 3-point range, with four assists. Trey Kaufman-Renn had 12 points, six rebounds and six assists on 4 of 5 shooting. Taylen Kinney scored four points on 1 of 9 shooting but finished with eight assists, three rebounds and two steals in 33 minutes. Leroy Blyden Jr. added eight points in 33 minutes, and Christian Reeves scored eight points with four offensive rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench.

Zoom Diallo scored 24 points on 10 of 15 shooting for Kentucky, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range. Malachi Moreno had 19 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Milan Momcilovic added five points and seven rebounds in 36 minutes. Alex Wilkins scored eight points and had five turnovers. The Wildcats shot 4 of 21 from 3-point range and committed 15 turnovers.

Diallo opened the scoring with a 14-foot pullup, assisted by Ousmane N'Diaye, but Kaufman-Renn answered with a 24-foot 3 from Kinney for a 3-2 Kansas lead. Kentucky went back in front and led 10-5 on Diallo's driving layup at 16:49 of the first half, the Wildcats' largest lead of the night. Offsetting technical fouls were called on Kinney and N'Diaye at 16:01. Kaufman-Renn's free throws tied it at 10-10 and put Kansas up 11-10, before Diallo's 26-foot 3 restored a 13-11 Kentucky lead.

Kinney's 24-foot 3 from Dennis Parker Jr. made it 17-15 Kansas at 11:49. Braydon Hawthorne tied it at 17-17, then Stokes hit a 24-foot 3 from Parker at 11:11 for a 20-17 lead Kansas did not give back. The Jayhawks scored the next nine points from that tie, with Reeves finishing a layup from Stokes, Stokes adding a 20-foot jumper, and Stokes dunking from Kinney to make it 26-17.

Stokes' 24-foot 3 from Kinney at 6:08 made it 33-23, Kansas' first double-digit lead. White threw down an alley-oop dunk from Kinney and later added a 23-foot 3. Kaufman-Renn's tip-in and a 10-foot floater from Kinney in the final minute sent Kansas into the locker room up 46-36.

White opened the second half with a layup, and Stokes hit a 25-foot 3 from Kaufman-Renn to make it 51-38. Diallo answered from 25 feet, but Kansas then scored 12 straight. Blyden's 20-foot step-back made it 53-41, Stokes hit another 25-foot 3, White added a driving layup and free throw, Kaufman-Renn made one free throw, and White's 25-foot step-back 3 from Kinney at 15:00 made it 63-41. That shot was Kansas' first 20-point lead.

Kentucky did not get closer than 15 the rest of the way. Moreno scored inside to make it 68-51 and later 69-53, but White answered with a dunk from Keanu Dawes and kept adding to the total. White's 24-foot 3 from Stokes made it 82-62 with 2:49 left, and another White 3 from Kinney made it 87-66. Stokes' two free throws with 26 seconds left stretched the lead to 23 at 89-66, matching Kansas' largest of the night. Moreno scored the final three points.

Kansas shot 32 of 69 from the field (46 percent) and 10 of 26 from 3-point range, with 24 assists, 40 rebounds and eight steals. The Jayhawks scored 38 points in the paint, 22 off 15 Kentucky turnovers and 11 on the fast break. Kansas led for 80 percent of the game, with five lead changes. Kentucky shot 27 of 59 (46 percent) but only 4 of 21 from 3-point range and 11 of 19 at the line, with 13 assists and six blocked shots.

Kansas entered 2-0 after a 95-65 win over Fordham, in which White scored 22 points and Stokes added 15 in his debut, and an 89-45 win over Middle Tennessee, in which Kaufman-Renn scored 17 points, according to Kansas' official recaps and preview. Kentucky entered 2-0 after an 85-57 win over Manhattan, in which Momcilovic scored 24 points, and an 89-80 win over James Madison, according to Kentucky's official preview. Mark Pope's club was away from Lexington for the first time this season in the Champions Classic nightcap, which followed Duke against Michigan State earlier in the evening.

Kentucky entered leading the all-time series 24-12, and Tuesday was the 10th meeting in the last 13 seasons, according to Kansas' official preview. Kansas had won the last two and three of the last four, and it was 3-2 against Kentucky in the Champions Classic. Tuesday's win made the series 24-13 in Kentucky's favor, gave Kansas three straight in the series and improved the Jayhawks to 4-2 against Kentucky in the Champions Classic. Kentucky entered as the winningest program in college basketball history with 2,446 wins, with Kansas second at 2,440, according to the official Kansas preview.

Kansas plays UNLV on Tuesday, Nov. 17, in the opening round of the Players Era 8 at Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Tip is set for 8:30 p.m. CT (9:30 p.m. ET) on ESPN. Kentucky hosts Northern Arizona on Friday at 7 p.m. at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center.

For the full numbers, see the ESPN box score (opens in a new tab) and play-by-play (opens in a new tab), plus Kansas' game preview (opens in a new tab) and Kentucky's preview (opens in a new tab). Official recaps had not been posted at the time this story was published.

Sources: ESPN, Kansas Athletics, Kentucky Athletics. More men's college basketball coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: Kansas Athletics (file photo from Nov. 6, 2026, vs. Middle Tennessee)